OpenBet Could Sell at Steep Discount, Says Research Firm

Posted on: September 19, 2024, 04:52h. 

Last updated on: September 19, 2024, 04:52h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: EDR) is shopping its OpenBet and IMG Arena sports betting data businesses and the former could sell for a significant discount to the price the seller originally paid.

Ari Emanuel
Endeavor Group CEO Ari Emanuel. The company may be forced to sell OpenBet at a significant discount to the $800 million it paid for the business in 2022. (Image: Bloomberg)

Endeavor is moving on from OpenBet after announcing in September 20221 that it would pay $1.2 billion to the company then known as Scientific Games for the business. That price was reduced to $800 million in June 2022. In a new report, Eilers & Krejcik Gaming (EKG) said it’s possible OpenBet could sell for $300 million if a prospective buyer discovers during the due diligence process that Flutter Entertainment (NYSE: FLUT) is considering moving the business it directs to OpenBet in-house.

Flutter hasn’t publicly said that such a move is under consideration, but that company and other UK-based sportsbook operators are major clients of OpenBet.

OpenBet is still at the heart of sports betting infrastructure. It powers Flutter’s UK (and Australian) sportsbooks and is also at the heart of Entain’s and Evoke’s UK offering (though all three firms are keen to downplay its significance),” observed EKG.

The research firm added that part of the reason for the potentially large discount on OpenBet’s sale price is because the technology provider has lost a fair amount of its US business as operators in this country have brought tech stacks in-house.

List of OpenBet Suitors Isn’t Long

EKG also pointed out that the list of prospective suitors for OpenBet isn’t long. After it completes its $6.3 billion acquisition of Everi (NYSE: EVRI) and International Game Technology’s (NYSE: IGT) global gaming and PlayDigital units, Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO) could make a run at OpenBet, said EKG, but that’s not a guarantee.

Likewise, a management buyout (MBO) could be on the table. Should OpenBet executives decide to pursue that avenue, it’s possible they’ll easily be able to procure the needed financing because lenders would be eager to extend credit with the business selling at a discount. OpenBet management hasn’t said such a transaction is under consideration.

“Most likely, though, in our view, is that private equity or some kind of fund swoops in, thanks to the discount and strong recurring revenues,” added EKG.

The research firm said such a transaction could materialize over the next month or two and would result in OpenBet being left largely as it is today.

What About IMG Arena?

As noted above, Endeavor also has its IMG Arena sports betting data unit on the block. What price that business could fetch in a sale isn’t widely known and there’s talk some logical would-be buyers probably aren’t interested.

“It’s hard to see past fellow data giants Genius Sports (NYSE: GENI) and Sportradar (NASDAQ: SRAD) as acquirers,” according to EKG.

Earlier this month, Genius was linked to takeover chatter pertaining to Sweden’s Kambi Group Plc (OTC: KMBIF), but both sides denied that rumor.